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A quick guide to handling mistakes

How to correct incorrectly processed transactions in Unleashed

Heather Worthington avatar
Written by Heather Worthington
Updated over 3 weeks ago

In Unleashed, once a transaction is completed, it cannot be reversed or undone. This permanent record-keeping system ensures the integrity and reliability of your audit logs, which may span several years. While this might seem restrictive when mistakes occur, this design protects your financial data from accidental changes that could compromise your accounting accuracy.

Why transactions can't be reversed: Maintaining an unchangeable audit trail is crucial for compliance, financial reporting, and business transparency. Once data is committed to your system, it creates a permanent record that auditors, accountants, and regulatory bodies can trust.

Instead of reversing transactions, you'll need to counteract their effects by creating offsetting transactions. Think of this as adding a new entry that undoes the impact of the original mistake, rather than erasing the original entry.


Step-by-Step correction procedures

Sales Order, Invoice, or Shipment corrections

When to use this method: You've completed a Sales Invoice, Shipment, or Sales Order transaction with incorrect quantities, pricing, or customer details.

Solution:

  1. Confirm the Sales Order is completed.

  2. In the Sales Order's Invoices tab, hover over the Invoice's action cog and select "Credit".

  3. Confirm the product quantities and prices that need to be corrected.

  4. Choose whether stock should be returned to inventory; tick the Return checkbox if physical goods are being returned

  5. Complete the Credit Note.

Why this works: The Credit Note creates an equal and opposite transaction that neutralizes the financial and inventory impact of the original error.

Credit Note corrections

Credit Notes themselves can be processed incorrectly. The correction method depends on whether the Return checkbox was selected.

If Return was ticked in the Credit Note

Solution:

  1. Create a new Sales Order for the same customer.

  2. Add the items that were incorrectly credited back.

  3. Use the correct quantities, pricing, and details.

  4. Complete the Sales Order.

Why this approach: Since the credit note already returned the stock to inventory, you simply need to resell it with the correct details.

If Return was unticked in the Credit Note

Solution:

  1. Create a new Credit Note from the original Invoice.

  2. This time, tick the Return checkbox to bring stock back into inventory.

  3. Ensure the invoiced stock has been dispatched before processing.

  4. Once completed, create a Sales Order to resell the stock with correct details.

  5. Complete the Sales Order.

Why this approach: You first need to return the stock to inventory (which the original incorrect credit note didn't do), then resell it correctly.

Purchase Order corrections

When to use this method: A Purchase Order was receipted or completed with wrong quantities or pricing.

Solution:

  1. Go to the Purchases > Supplier Return > Add Supplier Return.

  2. Reference the original Purchase Order.

  3. Enter the quantities being returned (matching the error amounts).

  4. Specify the Supplier Return Reasons.

  5. Complete the Supplier Return.

  6. If needed, create a new Purchase Order with the correct details.

Why supplier returns work: This transaction reverses the inventory increase and accounts payable entries created by the incorrect purchase receipt.

Assembly Corrections

When to use this method: An Assembly was completed with wrong components, quantities, or configurations.

Steps:

  1. Go to Inventory > Transactions > Stock Adjustments > Add Adjustment.

  2. Create an adjustment to add back the component items that were used

    • Use the same quantities and values as the original assembly.

  3. In the same adjustment, remove the assembled stock.

    • Use the same quantity and value as originally assembled.

  4. Include an Adjustment Reason and complete the adjustment.

  5. If needed, create a new assembly with the correct specifications

Why stock adjustments: Since assemblies transform components into finished goods, at the components' values, you need to manually reverse this transformation by restoring the original components and removing the incorrectly assembled products.


Understanding the Accounting impact

These correction methods will affect your accounting platform differently. Here's how each transaction type impacts your financial records:

Purchase Receipt

  • Stock on Hand (SOH): Increases.

  • Accounts Payable: Increases.

  • Purpose: Records goods received from suppliers.

Supplier Return

  • Stock on Hand (SOH): Decreases.

  • Accounts Payable: Decreases.

  • Purpose: Reverses purchase receipts for returned goods.

Sales Invoice

  • Sales: Increases.

  • Purpose: Records sale of goods.

Sales Shipment

  • Stock on Hand (SOH): Decreases.

  • Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): Increases.

  • Purpose: Records goods delivered to customers.

Credit Note with Stock Return

  • Stock on Hand (SOH): Increases.

  • Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): Decreases.

  • Sales: Decreases.

  • Purpose: Reverses sales when physical goods are returned.

Credit Note without Stock Return

  • Stock on Hand (SOH): No change.

  • Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): No change.

  • Sales: Decreases.

  • Purpose: Financial adjustments like discounts or billing corrections.

Stock Adjustment

  • Stock on Hand (SOH): Increases or decreases as specified.

  • Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): Increases if SOH is decreased.

  • Purpose: Corrects inventory discrepancies, write-offs, or damages.


Best Practices

  • Act Quickly: Address errors as soon as they're discovered to minimize impact on reporting and decision-making.

  • Document Everything: Always include detailed notes in your correction transactions explaining what went wrong and why you're making the adjustment.

  • Review Before Completing: Double-check all correction transactions before finalizing them to avoid creating additional errors.

  • Monitor Your Accounting: Verify that corrections appear correctly in your connected accounting platform and that all balances reconcile properly.

  • Learn from Mistakes: Analyze what caused the original error and implement process improvements to prevent similar issues in the future.

Remember, while corrections require additional steps, this system ultimately protects your data integrity and provides a complete audit trail of all business activities.

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